HANOI, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The State Bank of Vietnam has halted its gold bullion auctions and will introduce a new strategy to stabilize gold prices as early as June 3, local media reported Tuesday.

Since April 19, the bank has held nine gold auctions, six of which were successful, releasing a total of 48,500 taels of gold.

The remaining auctions were canceled due to a lack of participating members placing deposits and bids.

The central bank also announced plans to conduct inspections of gold trading activities in commercial banks such as TPBank and Eximbank, and gold traders like Saigon Jewelry Company, Doji, Phu Nhuan, and Bao Tin Minh Chau.

Earlier, the central bank said the purpose of the gold bullion auction was to intervene in a timely manner to reduce the gap between domestic and global gold prices to ensure a stable, healthy, transparent and efficient market.